The present invention relates to a bed, in particular to a medical or care bed, which is provided with safety side elements for defining the lying surface laterally.
A bed of the above type is known form DE 44 00 802 A1. This known bed is provided with a movable lower frame on which an upper frame is arranged. The upper frame comprises a bed frame formed by a head element, a foot element and two side elements. Disposed in the frame is a preferably adjustable mattress supporting device on which a mattress rests that defines the lying surface. Both side elements of the bed frame are mounted with grid-like safety side elements. Each of the safety side elements has a longitudinal bar extending in parallel to the relevant side element and above this side element, the bar being connected to the bed frame side elements through a plurality of mutually parallel connecting bars. All connections between the connecting bars, on the one hand, and the bed frame side element, as well as the longitudinal bar, on the other hand, are articulated and have pivot axles extending across the longitudinal extension of the bed. Thus, it is possible to lift and thereby pivot the safety side element into an upright position in which it projects upward beyond the lying surface, and to pivot it into a lowered position im which the longitudinal bar rests on the side element of the bed frame and is thus disposed below the lying surface so that a patient can readily get out of the bed.
The known safety side element structure has generally proven successful. However, its structure is rather complicated.
Further, medical beds are known from prior art wherein the safety side elements are disposed, according to the above structure, on the outside of the bed frame or the lying surface, respectively, the side elements of the bed frame or the lying surface, respectively, and the longitudinal bar being arranged on opposite sides of the connecting bars. Thus, it is possible to also pivot the safety side element downward to below the lying surface and, possibly, to below the bed frame.
From DE-U-17 18 671, a bed is known that is provided with lateral plates pivotally arranged below the lying surface and adapted to be folded up for use as a shield or screen. When those screen or shield plates are not needed, they are pushed underneath the lying surface from both sides and are stored there. The position of the plates of the known bed is more or less stable only when the plates are pushed in or folded up. As a consequence, the usefulness of the plates is limited to serving as a shield or a screen.
From DE-U-73 24 686, a children""s bed is known where the side elements are provided at the bed frame adjustable in height. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,571 describe a bed wherein a head-end safety side element and a foot-end safety side element are provided on each side of the lying surface. The gap between these two safety side elements can be closed with a third safety side element articulated to one of the two other safety side elements.
It is the object of the invention to provide a bed, in particular a medical or care bed, equipped with a safety side element of simpler structure and providing a safe support, which, in its function as a side element, is particularly suited for use in the care and the nursing of people lying in the bed.
To solve this object, the invention provides a bed, in particular a medical or care bed, comprising:
a lower frame having at least one leg or support element for support on a ground,
an upper frame connected with the lower frame and having a head element and a foot element, as well as at least one connecting element connecting the same,
a lying surface having two longitudinal edges extending between the head element and the foot element, and
at least one safety side element supported in particular at the upper frame.
In the present bed, it is provided
that the at least one safety side element is slidable, beneath the lying surface, in a pull-out plane, which is in particular substantially parallel to the lying surface, between an insert position, in which it is substantially flush with one of the longitudinal edges or offset inward therefrom, and a maximum pull-out position in which it protrudes outward beyond one of the longitudinal edges,
that the at least one safety side element (preferably automatically) remains extending substantially in the pull-out plane in any intermediate position between (preferably including) the insert position and the maximum pull-out position, and
that the at least one safety side element, in its maximum pull-out position, can be pivoted about a pivot axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal edges of the lying surface into an upright position in which the safety side element extends upward beyond the lying surface, a locking device fixing the at least one safety side element in the upright position against unintentional movement.
In the present bed, the safety side element, when not needed to laterally limit the lying surface, may be moved into a pull-out plane underneath the lying surface. Within this pull-out plane, the safety side element may be pulled out sideward from underneath the bed or it may be pushed sideward underneath the lying surface of the bed. This pull-out movement is limited by a maximum pull-out position. In this maximum pull-out position, the safety side element may be pivoted about a pivot axis extending substantially parallel to the lying surface, so as to be moved into its upright position. The pivot axis is disposed in the immediate vicinity of the lying surface so that the safety side element extends vertically upward when in the upright position close to the longitudinal edge of the lying surface. In the upright position, the safety side element is locked to the upper frame by an activatable and deactivatable locking device and, thus, is secured against unintentional movements.
The invention provides a structurally simple and still stable structure of a safety side element of a bed. The safety side element is extremely simple and reliable to operate. A particular advantage lies with the compact arrangement of the safety side element underneath the lying surface or underneath the upper frame of the bed considering the cleaning thereof and other manipulations, e.g., in caring for a patient. The area beneath the lying surface of the bed is freely accessible and is not obstructed by safety side elements. This allows to travel underneath the bed form the longitudinal sides, e.g., with a lift, a wheelchair, and the like, to transport a patient, this possibility of traveling underneath the bed also being given in the lowest height position of the bed (should it be provided with height adjustment means, e.g.).
The range of application of the safety side element is even enlarged by the fact that, in any of its pull-out positions, the safety side element is supported on the upper frame in a manner automatically secured against folding down or any other pivoting and/or tilting movements. This means that the safety side element is supported on the upper frame in the manner of a drawer or a pull-out tray. Pulling out the safety side element, the nursing staff can provide an additional depositing surface at the bed. This is again advantageous for the purpose of therapy or other nursing operations regarding the patient. Preferably, the pull-out plane extends substantially parallel to the lying surface.
In an advantageous development of the invention, the safety side element is locked automatically when moved into the upright position. This automatic locking may, for example, be effected by a pawl or a similar movable locking element engaging the safety side element.
An alternative to the previously described design of the locking device provides that it is activated automatically due to the dead weight of the safety side element. In this case, the safety side element, when fully pivoted upward, moves slightly downward due to its dead weight to insert the safety side element into locking blocking elements to secure it against unintentional pivoting. These blocking elements may either embrace the safety side element from the outside or enter the safety side element, for example, the frame structure thereof. The blocking elements extend vertically and are arranged on the upper frame.
Advantageously, the safety side element is locked (suitably automatically, especially by dead weight) against unintentional movement in the pull-out plane also in the insert position (as well as, in particular, in any pull-out position).
Within the scope of this invention, the automatic locking of each safety side element in both the upright position and the insert position, preferably by its own dead weight, has an independent relevance regardless of the other features of the present bed.
As mentioned above, it is advantageous to slidably guide the safety side element on the upper frame in the manner of a drawer. For this purpose, the head-end and the foot-end limiting edges of the safety side element are slidably guided in guiding profiles extending in parallel to the extension of the head-end and foot-end elements.
Conventional beds have each longitudinal edge provided with at least two safety side elements, one at the head-end and the other at the foot-end. With a mattress support device having an adjustable resting portion for the upper body, it is advantageous to have the head-end safety side element pivot along with the upper body resting portion, Therefore, it is feasible to mount the guiding profiles for the head-end safety side element on the mattress support device and, in particular, on the pivotable upper body resting portion. On the other hand, it is sufficient to support the foot-end safety side element at the bed frame, i.e., its guiding profiles are mounted on the foot-end element or the at least one connecting element connecting the foot-end and head-end elements. As an alternative, these foot-end safety side elements may also be supported at the relevant pivotable supporting portion of the mattress support device at the foot-end, so as to move along when the supporting portion is adjusted.
The guiding profiles are, in particular, C- or L-shaped profiles or profiles with a C- or L-shaped portion that laterally embrace the limiting edges of the safety side element.
With beds having a motor-powered adjustment of the mattress support device and a motor-driven height adjustment, the safety side element can be particularly well stored if all drive motors and transmission systems are centrally arranged in the midportion of the bed below the lying surface. In this case, there is sufficient space on both sides of the central drive and adjustment mechanism to store the safety side element or safety side elements without having to take into account any reinforcing elements for the upper frame or the mattress support device. The drive motors and transmission elements are suitably disposed centrally in a connecting element, designed as a central beam, for connecting the head-end and foot-end elements. Suitably, this connecting element is also engaged by the lower frame with its height adjustment. Above the central beam, the mattress support device is arranged and connected with the central beam. Thus, the central beam serves as the central structural element of the bed, connecting the lower frame with the upper frame and in particular with the mattress support device. This results in an advantageous design of the bed, both in view of the cleaning of the bed and its arrangement in separate structural and functional units.
The pull-out movement of the safety side element is limited by two cooperating stops or stop elements, the first stop element being provided on the safety side element, while the second stop element is provided on the upper frame. With the stops abutting, the safety side element may preferably be pivoted, the two stops together forming the pivot joint.
The above mentioned locking device for locking the safety side element in its upright position preferably engages the first stop. It is a particular advantage with a view to a simple design of the locking device to provide it as a recess into which the first stop can be sunk in the upright position of the safety side element, which is suitably effected by a downward movement of the safety side element caused by its own dead weight. The shape of the recess is complementary to the shape of the first stop so that the safety side element cannot be pivoted unintentionally when in its upright position. Preferably, the recess has a third stop against which the first stop abuts, thereby restricting the downward movement of the safety side element for moving the same into the locked state. Specifically, the recess is in the shape of a channel and has an open front end and an opposite closed end forming the third stop.
Preferably, the safety side element is adjustable in length to ensure a sufficiently large projection beyond the ly when a thicker mattress is used. Within the scope of the present invention, this is an independent feature. The safety side element comprises a pull-out element slidably attached to the frame part of the safety side element. The pull-out element can be fixed in its pull-out positions relative to the frame part.
Regardless of whether the safety side element is variable in length, it is feasible for it to have an exterior bar delimiting the side element upward when in the upright position. With the safety side element inserted, this bar is. preferably visible from outside and protrudes laterally beyond the relevant longitudinal edge of the bed. Optically, these bars of all safety side elements form the lateral limit of the lying surface and appear to be lateral frame elements interconnecting the head end and the foot end without being connected with either the head end or the foot end.
A mattress support device with adjustable support portions generally also comprises at least one stationary support portion besides the adjustable ones. This stationary support portion generally is the so-called gluteal support, whereas the upper body and the lower leg support portions each are adjustable. Providing safety side elements at the adjustable support portions of such a mattress support device is particularly feasible with respect to the upper body and the lower leg support portions.
In order to achieve the optical appearance of a lateral frame of the bed, it is advantageous for the stationary support portion and the upper leg support portion, generally not provided with a safety side element, to have lateral bars rigidly connected to these support portions and projecting sideward beyond the longitudinal edges of the lying surface. The design of these bars is similar to the outer bars of the safety side elements. Suitably, all of these bars (both of the support portions of the mattress support device that are stationary or not equipped with an safety side element and of the safety side elements) are provided with a yielding material, in particular plastics, so that a damage protection is provided on the longitudinal edges of the lying surface or the bed, respectively, serving to avoid damage when rolling the bed through door frames or the like. However, the bars may be made of another material (e.g. wood), the damage protection being less in this case. In the scope of the present invention, the above features are of independent importance without the other features being realized in the present bed.
It is suitable to provide two safety side elements at at least one longitudinal edge of the lying surface, the head-end safety side element extending to the head-end of the upper frame of the bed and the foot-end safety side element extending to the foot-end of the upper bed frame. A space is left between the two safety side elements, allowing a patient, for example, to leave the bed even with the safety side elements in their upright positions. To be able to secure this space as well, if need be, an advantageous embodiment of the invention, which is of independent meaning in the scope of this invention, provides for a third safety side element below the mattress support device guided at the same or at the lower frame, the third safety side element being adapted to be positioned upright like the other two safety side elements. As an alternative to providing a third safety side element, it is also possible to provide the foot-end or the head-end side elements with a respective closing element slidably supported at the respective safety side element and serving to close the space between the two safety side elements at least partly. In this development of the invention, it is further advantageous if the extensible closing element, slidable in parallel to the longitudinal edge of the lying surface, can be locked in its pull-out position. If only one of the safety side elements is provided with the closing element, it is advantageous for reasons of stability, to lock the pulled-out closing element at the respective other safety side element. There, a stop or a similar recess should advantageously be provided to increase the stability of the three-part safety side element arrangement.